text: The Knudsen number can be used to determine the rarefaction of a flow:
  * : Continuum flow
  * :  Slip flow
  * :  Transitional flow
  * : Free molecular flow
  This regime classification is empirical and problem dependent but has proven useful to adequately model flows.
  Problems with high Knudsen numbers include the calculation of the motion of a dust particle through the lower atmosphere and the motion of a satellite through the exosphere. One of the most widely used applications for the Knudsen number is in microfluidics and MEMS device design where flows range from continuum to free-molecular. In recent years, it has been applied in other disciplines such as transport in porous media, e.g., petroleum reservoirs. Movements of fluids in situations with a high Knudsen number are said to exhibit Knudsen flow, also called free molecular flow.
  Airflow around an aircraft such as an airliner has a low Knudsen number, making it firmly in the realm of continuum mechanics. Using the Knudsen number an adjustment for Stokes law can be used in the Cunningham correction factor, this is a drag force correction due to slip in small particles (i.e. d < 5 μm). The flow of water through a nozzle will usually be a situation with a low Knudsen number.
  Mixtures of gases with different molecular masses can be partly separated by sending the mixture through small holes of a thin wall because the numbers of molecules that pass through a hole is proportional to the pressure of the gas and inversely proportional to its molecular mass. The technique has been used to separate isotopic mixtures, such as uranium, using porous membranes, It has also been successfully demonstrated for use in hydrogen production from water.
  The Knudsen number also plays an important role in thermal conduction in gases. For insulation materials, for example, where gases are contained under low pressure, the Knudsen number should be as high as possible to ensure low thermal conductivity.